CHIPCHASE HAD EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE TRIALS, DETECTIVE SAYS

TULARE - A Tulare County investigator testified Tuesday that a former
Woodlake police sergeant charged with perjury had ordered the removal of
evidence in 14 cases that were headed to trial.

Kelly Robertson, an investigator for the District Attorney's Office,
testified in a preliminary hearing that she checked into then-Sgt. Kenneth
Chipchase's requests to remove the evidence after noticing that some items
in the Woodlake Police Department evidence room were incomplete or missing.

Chipchase was arrested in April after a two-month investigation into the
disappearance of drugs from the room. Missing items included marijuana,
LSD, heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine.

The initial investigation of Chipchase centered on Woodlake's evidence room
and led to one count of perjury. Robertson said she also found 12
additional instances of perjury in court and in search warrants - leading
to a total of 13 perjury counts.

Chipchase repeatedly said in official documents that he had served as a
federal law enforcement officer, she said. His descriptions of the job
included working with high-risk youth in Washington, D.C., and Miami, or
offering special protection to the space shuttle at Cape Canaveral, she
said.

Prosecutor Robert Dempsie said Chipchase's descriptions were wrong.

Another former Woodlake police sergeant, Mark Swaim, who testified July 1,
said he did not see those entries on Chipchase's service record when he
glanced at it before Chipchase was hired by the agency in 1993.

Chipchase was placed on leave when the investigation began. He was later fired.

Chipchase's preliminary hearing is scheduled to resume Aug. 4. He is free
on $200,000 bond.

Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)